Diary of an Arcade Employee

Valley of the Dinosaurs – The Complete Series is now Available on DVD

1974 was a high water mark for shows about families that are forced to live in a prehistoric setting. Not only did you have the live-action Land of the Lost, but you also had the start of the criminally underrated Hanna-Barbera series Valley of the Dinosaurs. I am surprised how many people have either forgotten or never heard of this series. Sometime I think they do remember it, but somehow get it confused with Land of the Lost. The background for both series is remarkably similar. Here is the summary for the show from the Warner Archive, who has just re-released the show.

During a rafting excursion of an uncharted river canyon, Professor John Butler, wife Kim, kids Katie and Greg and family dog Digger get caught up in a mysterious whirlpool and resurface in a world of prehistoric creatures. Now everyday is an exercise in survival for the adventurous Butler family. They befriend a helpful cave-dwelling family and together must contend with an angry brontosaurus and a dangerous sabertooth tiger – and don’t forget the earthquakes and volcanoes!

Similar right? It was so similar and yet while watching both shows in re-runs a young me could not see how similar they were (maybe I thought they were the same show? I was not very observant). All I cared was that both shows had dinosaurs in them. A trend I might add, that has sadly not made the comeback like it should. So until we get new dinosaur based shows on TV every week, I would suggest you pick a copy of Valley of the Dinosaurs. The disc set, straight from the Warner Archive, is filled with 344 minutes (16 episodes) of Dino-fueled animation fun like…